Therapy in Suicide Case Defended by Psychiatrist

By FOX BUTTERFIELD,

Published: April 1, 1992

BOSTON, March 31—
A Harvard Medical School psychiatrist accused of seducing a patient and causing his suicide said today that her treatment of him was "somewhat unconventional." And she insisted that dozens of pages of her handwritten sexual fantasies that were found in his apartment had been obtained illegally when he broke into her office.

Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard, said in a written statement that she had developed a "unique" therapy for the patient, Paul Lozano, a student at the medical school. When "conventional psychotherapy" failed for a year, Dr. Bean-Bayog said, she put herself in the role of "a benevolent mother who would not abuse him," giving him a stuffed bear, children's books and flashcards with messages directing him to him to think of her as his mother.

Mr. Lozano committed suicide in April 1991 after four years of treatment by Dr. Bean-Bayog, a highly regarded specialist in alcohol addiction. His family, Mexican immigrants who lived in Ohio and later moved to El Paso, have filed suit against Dr. Bean-Bayog, charging her with malpractice and wrongful death.

The case first came to light last Thursday when a lawyer for the Lozanos filed a number of documents in Middlesex Superior Court in support of their suit. Panel Critical of Doctor

In another development today, the State Board of Registration in Medicine issued a report finding that Dr. Bean-Bayog's treatment of Mr. Lozano "did not conform to accepted standards of medical practice." The board criticized her for casting herself as Mr. Lozano's "mom" and calling him her "boy" as well as for writing "explicit fantasies which may have related to Paul Lozano." The board said that she should have stopped writing the fantasies and that she should have helped him work through them.

But the board, which has been accused by the family of failing to investigate Dr. Bean-Bayog when accusations were first brought against her before Mr. Lozano killed himself, did not find that she had had sexual intercourse with her patient.

The board placed her under the supervision of another psychiatrist and referred the case for a further hearing to the State Division of Administrative Law Appeals. That body could clear her or take other sanctions against her, including revoking her medical license.

Dr. Bean-Bayog, who has been affiliated with Harvard since 1976, was placed on leave by the medical school last spring after it was learned that the medical board was investigating a complaint against her.

A resident in psychiatry at Harvard said that Dr. Bean-Bayog had been "an inspiring lecturer" and has "the highest reputation." The doctor spoke on the condition that his name not be used. Several other psychiatrists who know Dr. Bean-Bayog refused to comment in any way about her or the accusations.

In her statement today, in the form of an answer to the state medical board, Dr. Bean-Bayog said that her sexual fantasies "were recorded in privacy and were never intended for Mr. Lozano's eyes." She did not explain why she wrote the fantasies, but Dr. Bean-Bayog asserted that Mr. Lozano had taken them without her knowledge.

A police officer in Lexington, a suburb where Dr. Bean-Bayog lives and has an office, said her report of a break-in could not be immediately checked. Different Personality Seen

Dr. Bean-Bayog also painted a sharply different picture of Mr. Lozano than that given by family members, his boyhood doctor and another psychiatrist who later treated him.

Dr. Bean-Bayog, 48 years old, described Mr. Lozano as a "severely mentally ill patient" who was "chronically suicidal" and reported that he had been the the victim of horrendous childhood abuse. She did not specify the type of abuse, nor did she say who was responsible.

Dr. Bean-Bayog said that Mr. Lozano had told her about "his problems with alcohol and drug abuse, his sociopathic symptoms, such as lying, stealing and cheating and his overwhelming feelings of anxiety and rage."

But Mr. Lozano's sister, his pediatrician and his family's lawyer said there was no record of either childhood abuse or previous mental trouble before he sought out Dr. Bean-Bayog after feeling lonely during his third year at Harvard. His sister, Pilar Williams, a critical care nurse, said Dr. Bean-Bayog's accusations about abuse were "outrageous lies." 'It Defies Logic'

Dr. Thomas W. Watkins, Mr. Lozano's doctor from his birth in 1970 until he was 9 years old, said he was "dumbfounded" by Dr. Bean-Bayog's accusations. Dr. Watkins, who lives in the small town of Tiffin, Ohio, said the Lozanos brought their son to see him from their home at the time in Upper Sandusky, 25 miles away.

"It defies logic," Dr. Watkins said in a telephone interview. "If there was any abuse, why would they travel 25 miles to bring him to see a child specialist when he'd be the first one to see signs of it." He added: "Paul was a happy, friendly well-adjustedboy. At no time did I ever treat him for any type of emotional problem."